Atlantic Canadian musicians feted at ECMA gala
Four days of celebrating Atlantic Canadian music culminated in Corner Brook, N.L., on Sunday night with the annual East Coast Music Association Awards.
Newfoundland and Labrador's Hey Rosetta! picked up three awards, with the rising indie rock group's album Into Your Lungs (and around in your heart and on through your blood) snagging the FACTOR recording of the year prize, as well as group and alternative recording of the year.
Taking the awards podium for the third time, Hey Rosetta! frontman Tim Baker quipped that he had "already given the speech that I prepared, twice."
However, he added thanks to "basically any funding body and anyone who lobbies for the arts and in favour of the arts. Sometimes it's not a lot of money [we receive], but it means a lot and it means you can make something beautiful and meaningful.... [It] keeps the process really pure. Thank you for that."
Cape Breton singer-songwriter and producer Gordie Sampson, now based in Nashville, was among the evening's early winners, taking the single of the year trophy for We Are Young and So Is the Night. Later on, he was also named winner of the SOCAN songwriter of the year trophy.
Halifax singer Jill Barber was also an early ECMA Award recipient. She won for jazz recording of the year for Chances.
After a skit featuring Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams revving up the people of Corner Brook kicked off the televised broadcast of the ECMAs, singer Damhnait Doyle and CBC Radio personality Jian Ghomeshi continued the evening as co-hosts.
Prizes presented prior to the television broadcast included:
Aboriginal recording: This Is the Life for Me, The Flummies.
Instrumental album: Raindrops, Duane Andrews.
Blues recording: Something in Between, Matt Andersen.
Classical recording: A Child's Cry from Izieu Oskar Morawetz, complete works for violin and piano, Jasper Wood.
Aside from the slate of traditional awards, organizers will also present the inaugural ECMA Fan's Choice Award, a new publicly voted honour. The evening will also include a star-studded tribute to singer-songwriter, guitarist and Newfoundland musical pioneer Dick Nolan.
Broadcasting pioneer Paul Harvey dies at age of 90
CHICAGO – Paul Harvey, the news commentator and talk-radio pioneer whose staccato style made him one of the nation's most familiar voices, died Saturday in Arizona, according to ABC Radio Networks. He was 90.
Harvey died surrounded by family at a hospital in Phoenix, where he had a winter home, said Louis Adams, a spokesman for ABC Radio Networks, where Harvey worked for more than 50 years. No cause of death was immediately available.
Harvey had been forced off the air for several months in 2001 because of a virus that weakened a vocal cord. But he returned to work in Chicago and was still active as he passed his 90th birthday. His death comes less than a year after that of his wife and longtime producer, Lynne.
"My father and mother created from thin air what one day became radio and television news," Paul Harvey Jr. said in a statement. "So in the past year, an industry has lost its godparents and today millions have lost a friend."
Known for his resonant voice and trademark delivery of "The Rest of the Story," Harvey had been heard nationally since 1951, when he began his "News and Comment" for ABC Radio Networks.
He became a heartland icon, delivering news and commentary with a distinctive Midwestern flavor. "Stand by for news!" he told his listeners. He was credited with inventing or popularizing terms such as "skyjacker," "Reaganomics" and "guesstimate."
"Paul Harvey was one of the most gifted and beloved broadcasters in our nation's history," ABC Radio Networks President Jim Robinson said in a statement. "We will miss our dear friend tremendously and are grateful for the many years we were so fortunate to have known him."
In 2005, Harvey was one of 14 notables chosen as recipients of the presidential Medal of Freedom. He also was an inductee in the Radio Hall of Fame, as was Lynne.
Former President George W. Bush remembered Harvey as a "friendly and familiar voice in the lives of millions of Americans."
"His commentary entertained, enlightened, and informed," Bush said in a statement. "Laura and I are pleased to have known this fine man, and our thoughts and prayers are with his family."
Harvey composed his twice-daily news commentaries from a downtown Chicago office near Lake Michigan.
Rising at 3:30 each morning, he ate a bowl of oatmeal, then combed the news wires and spoke with editors across the country in search of succinct tales of American life for his program.
At the peak of his career, Harvey reached more than 24 million listeners on more than 1,200 radio stations and charged $30,000 to give a speech. His syndicated column was carried by 300 newspapers.
His fans identified with his plainspoken political commentary, but critics called him an out-of-touch conservative. He was an early supporter of the late Sen. Joseph McCarthy and a longtime backer of the Vietnam War.
Perhaps Harvey's most famous broadcast came in 1970, when he abandoned that stance, announcing his opposition to President Nixon's expansion of the war and urging him to get out completely.
"Mr. President, I love you ... but you're wrong," Harvey said, shocking his faithful listeners and drawing a barrage of letters and phone calls, including one from the White House.
In 1976, Harvey began broadcasting his anecdotal descriptions of the lives of famous people. "The Rest of the Story" started chronologically, with the person's identity revealed at the end. The stories were an attempt to capture "the heartbeats behind the headlines." Much of the research and writing was done by his son, Paul Jr.
Harvey also blended news with advertising, a line he said he crossed only for products he trusted.
In 2000, at age 82, he signed a new 10-year contract with ABC Radio Networks.
Harvey was born Paul Harvey Aurandt in Tulsa, Okla. His father, a police officer, was killed when he was a toddler. A high school teacher took note of his distinctive voice and launched him on a broadcast career.
While working at St. Louis radio station KXOK, he met Washington University graduate student Lynne Cooper. He proposed on their first date (she said "no") and always called her "Angel." They were married in 1940 and had a son, Paul Jr.
They worked closely together on his shows, and he often credited his success to her influence. She was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1997, seven years after her husband was. She died in May 2008.
'Madea' locks up top spot at weekend box office
LOS ANGELES – "Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail" locked up $16.5 million in ticket sales to claim the top spot at the box office for a second straight weekend, beating out "Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience."
The Jonas Brothers film, featuring the band on stage and off, took in $12.7 million, the second-biggest opening for a concert film behind 2008's "Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert." That 3-D film, chronicling fellow Disney idol Miley Cyrus, premiered at the top of the charts after playing in just 683 theaters. "Jonas Brothers" opened in 1,271 theaters.
"'Hannah Montana' set a bar so high it's going to take forever to knock it off," said Chuck Viane, president of distribution for Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. "Everything about it worked. She was coming off a great album and tour and three years on the Disney Channel. I don't think any set of circumstances will ever be quite what 'Hannah' had."
Feisty, pistol-packin' granny Madea remained unstoppable at the box office. The two previous films centering on Perry's foul-mouthed character — 2005's "Diary of Mad Black Woman" and 2006's "Madea's Family Reunion" — also debuted at No. 1, and they grossed more than $150 million total.
"We've been talking a lot lately about people going to the movies to escape," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box office tracker Media By Numbers. "Usually, people want to escape from jail, but people keep wanting to escape to jail with Madea. That character has made a huge mark. If you've got 'Tyler Perry' or 'Madea' in the title, you've got a hit."
"Slumdog Millionaire," riding high after collecting eight Oscars last week, finished third with $12.1 million, bringing its total to $115 million and giving it the biggest post-Academy Awards weekend for a best picture Oscar winner in 10 years.
"I still run into people who haven't seen it," said Sheila DeLoach, senior vice president of distribution at Fox Searchlight. "I'm like 'Hello? Do you live on the planet?' But obviously, there were a lot of people who hadn't seen it yet or we wouldn't have gone up 45 percent this weekend, so it's really terrific."
The week's other new wide release, the video game adaptation "Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li" distributed by 20th Century Fox, opened at No. 8 with $4.6 million.
Here are the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Media By Numbers LLC. Final figures will be released Monday.
1. "Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail," $16.5 million.
2. "Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience," $12.7 million.
3. "Slumdog Millionaire," $12.1 million.
4. "Taken," $9.9 million.
5. "He's Just Not That Into You," $5.8 million.
6. "Paul Blart: Mall Cop," $5.6 million.
7. "Coraline," $5.2 million.
8. "Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li," $4.6 million.
9. "Confessions of a Shopaholic," $4.4 million.
10. "Fired Up," 3.8 million.